These soft and chewy flapjacks are delicious oat bars (similar to American granola bars) that won't fall apart. This easy recipe only calls for melted butter, sugar, syrup, porridge oats and a little flour.
I love this flapjack recipe, I've made it a few times. Adding a little flour to the mixture helps your flapjacks turn out soft and chewy, rather than hard and brittle as they sometimes can.
Once you've mastered this recipe and learned how to make Flapjacks, you can add just about anything you like to customize these granola bars.
You can add chocolate chips, nuts, or mixed dried fruits like in this Fruity Flapjack recipe. If Apricots are your favourite dried fruit snack, try this Apricot Flapjack recipe.
How to make Soft and Chewy Flapjacks
To make basic flapjacks, start by greasing and lining the base and sides of an 8" square loose bottomed baking tin with baking parchment. The baking parchment is essential as it makes it easier to lift the flapjacks out of the tin once they have cooled.
If you don't have an 8" square tin, use one of a similar volume in size eg 8 x 8 = 64 square inches. 9" round cake tin is a good, readily available substitute.
Melt the butter, sugar, and syrup in a large pan over a very gentle heat until all the sugar and butter have melted. DO NOT BOIL THE MIXTURE. This will turn the sugar into a caramel, which is what makes many flapjacks turn out hard and difficult to eat.
Add the flour, salt, and oats. Mix thoroughly until everything is covered in the syrup mixture. It helps to give the dry ingredients a little mix before adding to the syrup.
Spread the mixture evenly and firmly into the prepared tin. The mixture is a little runny, but you will still need to press the mixture down firmly as this will help prevent the flapjacks from falling apart after baking.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 – 30 minutes or until baked and golden brown in colour.
Remove from the oven. Leave to cool a little before scoring the top into bars. DO NOT CUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH. You need these oat bars to set and cool completely before doing that.
The mixture will still be hot and very sticky, so take care, especially when baking with children.
Now that the flapjacks have cooled completely, you can complete to process of slicing them into bars. They will feel soft and chewy, and will not fall apart. The perfect simple granola bar recipe is within your reach!
Keep in an airtight container with a sheet of baking parchment wrapped around them, to help keep them moist and chewy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do my Flapjacks Fall Apart?
There could be many reasons why your flapjacks may fall apart after baking. I find using Porridge Oats rather than whole jumbo oats results in a better product.
Slicing them into bars while still warm can often cause them to fall apart. Instead, if you partially score them and then pop them in the fridge, this will speed up the cooling process and result in solid granola bars.
Packing the mixture down firmly in the baking tin before baking also helps. This removes the possibility of any air being trapped in between the oats, causing them to fall apart.
Finally, I know I'm probably stating the obvious, but I have to ask: did you weight the ingredients correctly? Using improper amounts can result in the oat bars not setting up correctly.
Why are my Flapjacks Hard?
Over-boiling the sugar, butter and syrup, is one possible reason for flapjacks being so hard. Simmering the butter-sugar-syrup mixture on low heat is better.
Adding flour helps make them chewy and soft. If you missed the flour, that could be the reason.
If they do turn hard, leave them in the open air for a few hours to help soften them a little. TIP: You can also store them with a slice of bread to keep them soft, or to help soften hard oat bars.
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Easy Flapjack Recipe
Equipment
- Baking Parchment
Ingredients - Imperial /oz are approx weights which are calculated by a 3rd party app
- 170 g butter
- 115 g soft brown sugar or demerara sugar
- 55 g golden syrup
- 225 g Porridge Oats not jumbo oats
- 50 g plain flour
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c conventional oven
- Grease and line the base and sides of an 8 inch square loose bottomed baking tin with baking parchment. The baking parchment is essential as it makes it easier to lift the flapjacks out of the tin once they have cooled.
- If you don’t have an 8 inch square tin, use one of a similar volume in size eg 8 x 8 = 64 square inches. I was never good at maths, so I hope you get the idea.
- Melt the butter, sugar, and syrup in a large pan over a very gentle heat until all the sugar and butter have melted. DO NOT BOIL THE MIXTURE. This is most likely the reason why some flapjacks turn out hard and difficult to eat.
- Add the flour, salt, and oats. Mix thoroughly until everything is covered in the syrup mixture. It helps to give the dry ingredients a little mix before adding to the syrup.
- Spread the mixture evenly and firmly into the prepared tin. The mixture is a little runny, but you will still need to press the mixture down firmly as this will help prevent the flapjacks from falling apart after baking.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 – 30 minutes or until baked and golden brown in colour.
- Remove from the oven. Leave to cool a little before partially slicing the top into bars. DO NOT CUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH. You need the flapjacks to set and cool completely before doing that.
- The mixture will still be hot and very sticky, so take care, especially when baking with children.
- Now that the flapjacks have cooled completely, you can complete to process of slicing them into bars. They will feel soft and chewy. And should not fall apart.
- Keep in an airtight container with a sheet of baking parchment wrapped around them, to help keep them moist and chewy.
Notes
- There could be many reasons why your flapjacks may fall apart after baking. I find using Porridge Oats rather than whole jumbo oats are better.
- Slicing them into bars while still warm can often cause them to fall apart. If you partially slice them and pop them in the fridge, this will speed up the cooling process.
- I know I’m probably stating the obvious, but did you weight the ingredients correctly?
- Packing the mixture down firmly in the baking tin before baking also helps. This removes the possibility of any air being trapped in between the oats, causing them to fall apart.
- Over boiling the sugar, butter and syrup, is one possible reason for flapjacks being so hard. Simmering the butter, sugar, syrup mixture on low heat is better.
- Adding flour helps make them chewy and soft. If you missed the flour out, that could be the reason.
- If they do turn hard, leave them in the open air for a few hours to help soften them a little.
Sonny
To Nina who asked about seeds. I added 2-3 teaspoons of pumpkin and sunflower seed mix to this recipe and they turned out fine. For larger amounts, I guess you would have to reduce the oats or increase fat/sweetener?
Lynn, I have a non-stick baking dish (like a mini loaf pan, but square shape) that sits in the air fryer basket. It was a 3rd party purchase. It's great.
Lynn
Thank you so much for your comments. Air Fryers seem so versatile. It’s the one gadget I don’t have.
Sonny
Fantastic! Bravo on a great recipe. I tried a few different ones and they all failed. Many of them would not cook through OR the tops would separate from the rest of the flapjack 🙁 A lot of other recipes said to lower the temp down to 140 Deg C for a chewier flapjack, which is what I was after.
HOWEVER, I now realise that a higher temperature (170 Deg C+) caramelises the sugars, resulting in a better taste. Your recipe was spot on. I even made them in a Philips Air Fryer (think of it as a mini electric oven) and they turned out fab. When I took them out, the top looked overdone and I was worried that I had failed again. But on cooling, they were just right - bit crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle.
I can't eat chocolate or eggs, so I am always on the lookout for short and sweet recipes to make snacks. Thank you so much.
Sonny
Sonny
I have been so disappointed with the majority of recipes I have tried. So glad to say these cane out perfect. I cooked them in a Philips airfryer and they were awesome.
Many recipes call for very low temperatures. I don't know why because only at at higher temperatures will the sugar caramelise.
Thanks so much
Lynn
I'm impressed that you made Flapjacks in an Airfryer. It's not something I have tried.
Nina
Hi want to make these at the weekend but I want to add pumpkin and sunflower seeds, do I need to put less oats in if added seeds to the ingredients. Thanks
Lynn
Yes, you could try adding a few less Oats.
JILL CHARTERS
Thankyou found this a really nice Flapjack never added flour and really worked to stop Flapjack that annoyingly crumbled this kept together perfect.Also nice and soft instead of rock hard.I topped with Melted Chocolate.Only thing I ADJUSTED Was After making the 1st amount found after placing into the deep oblong Brownie tray would be too thin so made another amount and added to the already mixture in tray.PERFECT THICKNESS By DOUBLING The INGREDIENTS.?
Lynn
Thanks for your comment Jill. It's good to know that doubling the ingredients worked for you.
Bridget Van Manen-Esdaile
My 9yo daughter made these the other day and it's the best Flapjack Recipe that we've made! We like quite a chunky flapjack so I might double up the recipe next time to fit our tin better!
Lynn
I'm so pleased that your daughter loved the recipe. Let me know how you get on with doubling up the recipe.
L
I’m always on the lookout for the perfect flapjack recipe. This one was a success - perfect bars and just chewy enough. Thank you!
Lynn Hill
Thanks Lisa. I'm pleased that you liked the recipe.
Sue Burton
Mine turned out a little crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle but I had added a handful of nuts and raisins and drizzled some plain melted chocolate across them whilst they were cooling, so they are very moreish!
Would certainly make them again.
Lynn Hill
I'm pleased that you like the recipe. What a lovely idea to add a few nuts and raisins.